Careful What You Wish For
by phoebenpiper
Summary: Whilst investigating an incursion, each member of the team gets a wish answered...but not quite in the way they'd hoped for!  Takes place after 5.4; it's self-contained but is a sequel  of sorts  to "Stuck at Home".  Jess/Becker plus other characters


Careful What You Wish For

a Primeval fanfic by phoebenpiper

[Author's Note: this story takes place the day after the beetles incident in 5.4 and thus is a sequel, of sorts, to my story "Stuck at Home". However, this story is self-contained, so you need not have read the earlier one.]

. . .

For the zillionth time that afternoon Jess glanced down at the corner of her monitor where the time was constantly displayed. Ordinarily her internal clock kept perfect time, but not today. It already felt well past 8 o'clock even though it wasn't yet quite 5. She supposed the long afternoon was thanks to the electricians, who were making her life a nightmare. Of course she wanted the ARC to be rewired as quickly and accurately as possible, yet she deplored the frequent power outages, not to mention the showers of sparks and random wires falling from the ceiling above her head. Thus she wished the end of the workday would hurry up and arrive.

And that wish had nothing to do with the fact that she would be having dinner alone with Becker! Nothing at all!

A metallic crash coincided with yet another power outage, causing Jess to sigh with frustration. Ordinarily the ADD was on emergency back-up power, so the ARC never went completely dark. But the electricians seemed have done something really wrong this time for Jess was suddenly plunged into total darkness.

Jess drummed her fingertips impatiently upon the silent detector as she listened to the invisible electricians hollering back and forth in the ceiling above her. She knew better than to try to leave the hub in this darkness, so instead she sat by herself, counting the seconds as they slowly ticked by.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes, the lights came back up. But instead of being alone, as she'd assumed, the lights revealed Connor now standing at her side, a fact that made Jess emit an alarmed gasp.

"Sorry," Connor instantly apologized.

Jess shook her head, waiting for her heart rate to slow enough for her to talk. "No need to apologise, Connor - you just startled me is all."

But now it was Connor's turn to shake his head. "No, I mean I'm sorry. About yesterday, the beetles and...and everything."

Connor had such a downcast expression that Jess instantly felt sorry for him. "Connor, it's okay," she quickly comforted. "It wasn't your fault."

"No, actually it was," Connor corrected. "I created that anomaly, and...and you almost died as a result. And I am SO sorry!" He continued on, as if merely talking to himself. "I thought I was doing the right thing, what Cutter would've wanted. But I was wrong. Cutter never would've put lives at risk, except his own. Abby saw that, so why didn't I? Why didn't I realise that-"

"Connor," Jess interrupted, tenderly touching his arm, having realised he'd keep on browbeating himself forever if she didn't stop him. "It's fine. I'M fine. Really!"

As she emphatically spoke, it occurred to her that he might not believe her if he saw the giant bruise on her thigh, a result of the adrenaline injection. She nonchalantly covered the black mark with her hand, reminding herself that she MUST start wearing longer skirts!

Unfortunately the motion drew Connor's attention to her leg, and his eyes grew wide at the sight.

"Did Becker do that?" he asked.

Jess wasn't sure what to answer. Connor seemed so down on himself, she didn't want to add to his guilt by admitting that she'd sustained the injury as a result of yesterday's events, but she couldn't think of a decent white lie.

Before she could reply, though, the corner of Connor's mouth raised in the barest hint of a smile. "Must give him grief about that," he said, sounding almost relieved that he wasn't the only one to let her down.

Jess was pleased to see Connor's mood lifting, but the last thing she wanted was for him to tease Becker about her bruise. Despite having saved her life, the soldier blamed himself for hurting her, and getting ribbed by Connor was certainly not going to help matters any.

"Connor, please don't-"

Jess ended her sentence with a frustrated sigh as the electricity went out, yet again engulfing the entire room in darkness.

"Lovely," she mumbled to herself.

"Couldn't agree more."

Jess jumped as Becker's voice suddenly sounded practically in her ear. A moment later, the lights came up, revealing the soldier's presence at her side, making her wonder when exactly the boys had become so stealthy!

Becker went on as if he hadn't yet spoken: "Our shift's finally over - you...uh...ready for dinner?"

Jess grinned, glancing at the corner of her monitor in order to confirm that it was indeed 5pm. The system, however, was still in the process of rebooting, so she'd simply have to take his word for the time.

"Dinner?" Connor asked curiously.

Jess turned to look at Becker, wondering how he was going to answer the question.

Unfortunately, he evaded it by repeating blankly, "Dinner?" as if he had no idea what Connor was talking about it.

Jess tried to read Becker's face, but as per usual, she could interpret little from his stoic expression. Realising she was going to have to be the one to actually answer Connor's question, she responded, "Uh...a celebration dinner. To, you know, celebrate...not being dead and all." Suddenly worried that Connor might feel guilty all over again for his part in yesterday's chaos, she quickly added, "And, obviously, the fact that Philip didn't incinerate us."

A cloud seemed to pass over Connor's face, and Jess realised she'd said completely the wrong thing. She immediately continued: "I mean, every day at the ARC is stressful, so we just thought we'd, you know, celebrate. Together. With dinner."

Connor no longer looked so depressed; instead, he was now giving Jess a skeptical look. "I'd've thought pints would be more on order for that."

"Oh, there'll definitely be pints," Becker said matter-of-factly.

"Brilliant!" Connor looked genuinely happy for the first time in days as he turned to holler across Ops, "Abby. We're going out tonight."

"What?" Jess and Abby asked in unison, though for completely different reasons.

"'Going out' where?" Emily asked, joining up with Abby and heading towards the hub.

Connor shrugged. "It was their plan," he said, nodding to Jess and Becker. "Did you have someplace specific in mind?"

Jess shook her head, although it wasn't actually in answer to Connor's question. She turned to Becker, hoping he'd rescue their date from becoming a joint outing. Yet the soldier looked expressionless as usual, though she could've sworn she saw the muscles tense in his jaw.

"Well, there's always The Cat and Canary," Abby suggested. "That's close by."

"The Cat and Canary?" Emily repeated. "Is that public house still around?"

As the others began a heated discussion on what other pubs from Emily's time might still be open, Jess sat in the middle of them all, speechless. She couldn't think, let alone join in on the discussion, because the voices in her head just kept screaming, "No no no no no!" She wanted this all to stop, for everyone to go away and leave her and Becker alone to have their first date.

If it even WAS a first date. But perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps that's why Becker wasn't stopping them, because he truly had intended this to be a friendly "celebration dinner" and not anything more.

But if that had been his intention, it certainly hadn't been hers. She'd wanted to spend the evening alone with him, just the two of them together, not the entire team. And she wished that something, ANYTHING would happen to prevent everyone from tagging along with them this evening.

No sooner had she wished it than the red lights and klaxons of the detector began to go off.

. . .

"Dammit!"

Abby was surprised to hear Becker's muttered curse. He'd seemed so restless and out-of-sorts all afternoon, she was certain he'd be eager for the opportunity to go into the field, even if it meant working late.

"I guess we'll take a raincheck on that dinner, yeah?" Connor said, sounding more than a little disappointed, though still not as down as he'd been earlier.

Not that Abby had seen Connor very much today - he'd spent most of the day in his lab after visiting Prospero in the morning. When she had seen him, though - when he'd talked to her and Matt about Philip's plans - he'd seemed utterly despairing, so unlike the Connor she knew. The prospect of dinner with the team had seemed to raise his spirits considerably, and Abby was disappointed for his sake that it wouldn't be happening now. She could only hope that the anomaly would be distracting enough to prevent Connor from spiraling down into another depression.

"Where is it?" Matt asked as he joined the rest of them around the hub.

"Not far," Jess said, her fingers flying across the keyboards as the maps on the monitor swirled. "North of the City. Waltham Abbey."

"That's right off the M25," Becker said. "Shouldn't take too long to get there...and get back," he mumbled as an afterthought.

"Except it's rush hour," Abby pointed out.

"'Rush hour'?" Emily asked, clearly unfamiliar with the term.

"The time when everyone clogs the streets trying to get home," Connor explained. "In other words, a miserable time for travel."

"I'm afraid we've no choice," Matt said. "But let's just take one vehicle. That'll make getting there in traffic a bit easier."

"Will we all fit?" Abby asked Matt, pointedly nodding her head towards Emily, who was clearly intent on joining them.

"Sure," Becker said, nodding at Connor as he added, "The three 'girls' can sit together in the back."

Abby saw Connor do a quick headcount before giving an offended, "Hey!"

"C'mon," Matt said, starting to head out. "What are we waiting for?"

But that had been almost two hours ago. And since then they'd done nothing but wait, stuck in this infernal tailback, barely averaging more than 20 mph, even on the motorway.

The atmosphere in the car was extremely uncomfortable. Becker seemed to be in a rotten mood, cursing every other driver on the roads and driving erratically, impatiently speeding around cars and then slamming on the brakes to avoid collisions. Thanks to this, Abby was being tossed about like a ragdoll in the middle of the backseat, forcing her to brace herself against the two front seats so as not to be constantly knocking into her seatmates. On her right, Connor had sunk back into his depressed mood - since Becker's driving made it impossible for Abby to keep Connor's mind otherwise occupied with light conversation, he was left alone with his own thoughts, which was precisely what he didn't need right now. Meanwhile, on her left, Emily was turning green from that 21st century ailment known as motion sickness, a fact which Matt seemed blissfully unaware of from his seat in front of her.

Other than Becker's swearing, the only voice that sounded through the car was Jess's, and for some reason even she didn't seem quite as chipper as usual.

"Take the slip road onto A121," Jess said through the comm.

"Yes!" Becker said, veering onto the hard shoulder and stomping his foot on the accelerator to skirt around traffic in order to quickly exit the motorway.

"Easy, Becker," Matt said calmly as the car's occupants were thrown violently against their seatbelts with another slam of the brakes. "There's no need to rush - the anomaly will still be there."

Abby recognised both statements as potential lies but didn't comment, knowing that Matt was simply trying to calm Becker down so that the soldier didn't kill them all. She also knew that the sun was almost down, and hunting for creatures would be that much more difficult once it got dark, though she got the distinct impression that that wasn't why Becker was in such a hurry.

"Jess, have there been any creature reports?" Abby asked.

"None have been reported," Jess replied. "But the anomaly's within Thorndon Country Park, which mostly consists of Holyfield Marsh, so there aren't many inhabitants in that area."

"Great - a marsh in the dark," Becker mumbled as he sped the car through the town, swerving onto a roundabout and nearly hitting a lorry that was slowly lumbering its way along.

"Careful," Matt said as Becker slammed on the brakes once again.

Through the comm Jess instructed, "Up ahead you'll want to take a left onto Crooked Mile Road."

Emily elicited a tiny groan, causing Abby to pat her companion reassuringly on the knee. "We're almost there," Abby whispered with an empathetic smile.

She was almost as eager to arrive as Emily and Becker, but for a different reason. Fighting creatures seemed to bring out the best in Connor, and she was hoping that this would raise his spirits. She knew that it had been a tough blow to find out that his idol Philip had been in league with Helen, but Connor needed to stop dwelling on the past and focus on the present. And if anything could cause him to focus, it was being in the field.

"Now turn left onto the dirt road - that'll take you to the marsh."

Abby worried, though, about what they might be up against tonight. Marshes could support a host of different creatures, including many varieties of insects. _Please - anything but insects_, she silently prayed. They'd had entirely too many encounters with insects, both big and small, of late. Wistfully thinking back to her old job at the zoo, Abby wished, _If only this anomaly could offer up some nice, friendly reptiles._

And as Becker swung the car around the corner, a herd of giant hippo-sized creatures was standing mid-road waiting for them.

. . .

The instant the SUV skidded to a stop, Emily flung open her door and vomited onto the ground. She'd felt nauseated from the moment Becker had sped out from the ARC, but now that she'd purged, she instantly felt better, despite the bitter taste left in her mouth.

"You okay?" Abby asked, leaning across the seat and trying to brush Emily's long hair from her face.

Emily nodded, sitting back up and releasing her seatbelt. "Much better now," she confirmed, swinging her feet onto the sideboard and starting to climb out of the SUV.

But Matt was already standing in the doorway and, placing his hands on her shoulders, sat her back down.

"You should stay in the car," Matt said. "We can handle this."

"I'm fine now, Matt," she insisted as she struggled against him, trying once again to stand up. Clearly he didn't believe her, though, for he continued to hold her firmly in her seat.

Emily started to protest but then stopped to hear the others discussing the creature situation on the far side of the car.

"They're _Placerias_," Abby was saying as she crawled out of the back seat via Connor's door. "Dicynodonts, mammal-like reptiles from the late Triassic."

"A bit like the modern hippo," Connor continued. "They liked to wallow in streams - the marsh would do quite nicely for them. Herbivorous, naturally."

"Bloody figures!" Becker grumbled, his frustration at not getting to shoot something obvious in the way he slammed his EMD down on the bonnet.

Emily glanced out the windscreen at the large ambling figures, for the first time getting a good glimpse of the herd. Recognition instantly dawned; she might not know their scientific name, but she instantly knew them at a glance.

"Matt, I know these creatures," Emily explained. "We lived with them. They're harmless unless they're spooked. But they're stubborn, so we'll need all of us to get them back through the anomaly."

Matt had loosened his grip on her as he turned to glance at the animals himself, so she quickly stood and hurried around the back of the vehicle to join the others before Matt could stop her.

"So where's the anomaly?" Becker asked impatiently, looking around the dimly lit park.

Connor checked his handheld ADD before pointing down the road. "It should be straight ahead aways."

"Then let's go," Emily said, charging forward through the twilight, grateful to get some fresh air into her lungs.

"Emily!" Matt called, hurrying after her and putting a controlling hand on her elbow. "I really think-"

"I'm FINE, Matt!"

"Matt, just leave her be," Abby said, coming to Emily's rescue.

Thankfully Matt listened and backed off, allowing Abby to sidle up to her. As Emily gave her a thankful nod, Abby furtively placed a small object in her hand. "This might help," she whispered.

Emily peered down at the small, paper-wrapped object curiously. "What is it?"

"Chewing gum." When Emily looked blank, Abby continued, "It's like food, only you just chew it. But it's mint flavoured, so it should help with the bad taste in your mouth."

Emily smiled gratefully and, unwrapping the object, placed it in her mouth. The mint flavour did indeed help remove the bitter aftertaste of the vomit, though it felt strange not to swallow it. However, she suddenly had a memory of Ethan once talking about such a thing, something about blowing bubbles with your mouth or some such nonsense. She now recalled that that conversation had actually transpired during the time she and her companions were with these creatures.

Their band had spent a long time, probably several months, traveling with a herd as they searched for a doorway to another time. Not knowing their proper name, they had referred to the animals as "beaked hippos" due to the curved beaks the creatures used to smash up the roots and tubers they unearthed with their short tusks. That place, or more specifically that time, had been mostly arid, but the beaked hippos had been excellent at finding water holes, thanks to their propensity for wallowing in streams, so Emily and her fellow travelers had stuck with the herd for survival. The animals had grown used to their presence, and the humans had enjoyed the safety of having much larger, much SLOWER prey around when predators attacked.

It had been a relatively calm period, one Emily looked back on wistfully. Without a constant daily fear for their lives, their small band had become closer, actually enjoying some fun now and then. They had all reminisced one evening about the things they missed most from their own times. Charlotte had missed the comfort of her own bed, and Ethan had missed chewing gum. But Emily had been surprised to realise that she didn't really miss much of her old life, including her own husband. It had been a disturbing revelation at the time, but it was something to which she'd long since grown accustomed.

As Emily now forced her way into the middle of the herd, she revelled in the nostalgia of being near them again. The twilight was almost gone, so she reached out, feeling her way in the dark by gently touching the creatures.

"Emily."

She sighed as Matt's voice brought her back to the present. What more could she say to convince Matt that she was fine now and didn't need coddling? She wished he would stop fussing over her.

"What?" she asked impatiently, spinning around to find a torch shining directly into her face.

The beaked hippo next to her apparently didn't like the harsh light any more than she did - spooked, it turned and swung his tusks at Matt, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.

. . .

"Matt!"

Becker swung his torch in the direction of Emily's cry. At first he couldn't see anything amongst the restless herd, but after a moment Emily's head popped into view.

"Extinguish your light - it's upsetting them!"

Without pausing to think, Becker immediately did as ordered and then instantly regretted that action. For one thing, darkness had fallen, making it difficult to see without the torch. But, more importantly, his action gave the impression that he would take orders from Emily, when in reality it should be the other way around. After all, Becker was the second in command, so who exactly did Emily think she was, giving him orders?

Annoyed with both himself and with Emily, Becker fumbled his way through the herd towards where he'd seen the girl. The creatures seemed to be calming now that the torches were off, which annoyed Becker even further, knowing that Emily had been right.

When he finally found her, she and Abby were attempting to drag Matt's unconscious body out of danger.

"What happened?" Becker asked.

"He got knocked out," Abby grunted as the girls struggled to carry Matt.

"Yeah, Abigail, I got that," Becker replied sarcastically, not bothering to offer them any help with the deadweight.

"One of the animals spooked," Emily further explained. "They don't like the lights."

Becker got that, too, but he didn't bother to say so. Instead he ordered, "Put him in the car - he should be relatively safe there."

Then, looking around through the darkness, he continued, "Where's Connor?"

"He went off to find the anomaly," Abby replied, nodding her head down the road. "By the marsh, I think."

Becker nodded and, leaving the girls to deal with Matt, made his way up the creature-filled road. This was certainly NOT the way he'd envisioned spending his evening. Right now he should've been in a nice restaurant, enjoying a pleasant meal alone with Jess, listening to her excitedly prattle on about...come to think of it, she could've prattled on about pretty much ANYTHING and he would've been happy. But instead he was stuck in the dark in a marsh park with a bunch of giant, smelly creatures he wasn't even allowed to shoot, taking orders from a bossy Victorian girl! One of his team - his boss, in fact - was unconscious, and another team member had wandered off! What the hell?

Becker realised he needed to take back control of this evening, so he decided to be proactive - he'd find Connor and start working out a plan to get these creatures back through the anomaly.

As the soldier got closer to the marsh, he could make out Connor's shape, backlit by the golden glow of the anomaly. Over the past few years, Becker had seen anomalies of all different sizes - from Connor's tiny beetle-releasing disaster yesterday to gigantic G. Rex-sized ones - but this anomaly struck him as much smaller than most, especially considering the size of the creatures.

"How did all of these get through there?" Becker asked, confused.

Connor nodded towards the marsh. "That's only part of it - most of it's under water."

Becker squinted, trying to take a closer look. Connor was right - this anomaly was like an iceberg, with only a small percentage above water whilst the rest of it was submerged beneath the murky surface of the marsh.

"Great," Becker mumbled to himself. He knew better than to wonder what more could go wrong this evening, yet he couldn't help but wonder if he was somehow being punished for something.

"I don't think we'll be able to lock it," Connor continued. "The locking device was designed to work through air, not water." He turned away from the anomaly to face Becker but frowned when he saw that the soldier was alone. "Where are the girls?"

"We're here," Abby said as she and Emily ran up, out-of-breath.

"We got Matt safely into the car," Emily said, though Becker could sense in her tone that she wanted to add , "No thanks to you."

"So how do we get the creatures back through?" he asked, figuring they could deal with the locking issue later.

Emily shook her head. "They hate the light - it would've been much easier to coax them through when it was still daylight."

Becker rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it would've been much easier if the creatures were a quarter of their actual size, but that's not what we've got, so what do we do now?"

Abby stared at the soldier. "Becker, there's no reason to get snippy," she scolded.

Becker disagreed - there was EVERY reason to get snippy! If only he could shoot something, perhaps he'd feel better.

As if in answer to his silent pray, a roar was suddenly heard from the anomaly, and they all turned to watch as a giant _Postosuchus_ emerged.

...

Connor was so surprised at the creature's sudden appearance, he almost dropped the handheld into the water. He quickly caught it and then stared in horror at the terrifying crocodilian as it advanced towards them, rearing up on its hind legs to its full 5-metre height. Connor had left his EMD in the car, knowing the _Placerias_ were herbivorous, so now he was defenseless. Perhaps Philip was right - he was better suited for the lab.

Philip. The mere thought of the man now made Connor's heart sink. How could such an amazing man - his idol - be in league with Helen? Connor could've forgiven everything else - the deceipt, the arrogance, even the fact that Philip had been wiling to sacrifice them all - but discovering that Helen was a part of Philip's grand scheme was unforgivable and made Connor's stomach turn.

"Use the highest setting!"

Becker's order seemed to snap Connor back to the present, and he watched as the soldier and the two girls fired shot after shot at the attacking predator.

"But we've got to get it back through first," Abby hollered through the dimly lit night.

Connor could hear Becker's frustrated sigh even above the roar of the _Postosuchus_ but nevertheless saw the soldier adjust his EMD back to the lower setting.

"Aim at his torso, not his head," Emily insisted. "If we can get him back down on all-fours, he'll want to get out of the water and thus should return of his own accord."

Connor felt helpless as he watched the three do as Emily suggested, realising that, even when they got it back through, they'd be unable to lock the anomaly after it. The plan eventually worked, though, and the creature started to crawl back through the anomaly.

"Now switch to the higher setting," Becker ordered. "We want this thing out of commission when we send the others back through."

Under the increased assault, the crocodilian started to stumble, but Becker kept at it, walking a few feet into the murky water as he intensely fired shot after shot into the predator's mouth. Finally a splash was heard as the creature fell backwards, disappearing through the anomaly, much to everyone's relief.

However, the relief didn't last long as they all turned to find that the _Placerias_ had fled even further down the road, no doubt trying to escape from the predator.

"Great," Becker grumbled. "NOW how are we going to get them all back?"

But no one had an answer, and the park grew silent as they all tried to think of a solution. Connor's mind was such a jumble from everything that had happened in the last few days that he couldn't concentrate, which made him feel even worse about everything, convinced he was a failure.

Eventually, through the darkness he heard Emily mumble absently, "Chewing."

"Huh?" Connor asked.

But clearly Emily had come up with a plan for she went on excitedly, "These beasts are like cows - for them, the grass is always greener on the other side. So we just need to coax them into thinking that there's tastier food back through the anomaly."

"Okay," Becker said, throwing up his hands as if in surrender. "And how exactly do we do that?"

"They...uh...eat roots and tubers," Connor offered, finally able to contribute something.

"Exactly," Emily said, searching the edge of the marsh for a literal carrot she could use to lure the beasts through.

"Would this work?" Abby asked, picking up a largish stick that appeared to have been recently gnawed upon.

Emily shrugged. "I think we'd have better luck finding things they'd like in the water itself."

"Naturally," Becker grumbled.

Connor felt like he needed to do something useful, since he'd been unable to help so far, so he volunteered, "Why don't you girls go take stock of where the _Placerias_ got to, and Becker and I can look for roots in the water?" He assumed this solution made the most sense, since Becker was already wet, but the soldier shot him a deadly glare.

The girls, however, agreed and headed off, disappearing into the darkness as Connor tentatively waded into the marsh. The water was bitterly cold, and he instantly regretted volunteering for this mission, but it was too late to turn back now. He wished there was another way to get the _Placerias_ back through the anomaly - one that didn't involve being up to his knees in the marsh - but he couldn't think of a better scheme.

"Connor!" Abby's frantic voice was heard in the distance above an ever-growing rumble. "Get out of the way!"

Connor looked up just in time to see the entire herd of _Placerias_ charging straight for the anomaly...and him!

...

Matt watched through the windscreen as Connor leapt out of the way of the stampeding animals, diving deep into the murky waters of the marsh. Luckily the splash didn't distract the creatures, who continued to flee from the approaching floodlights on the SUV by heading straight through the anomaly.

As the last beast disappeared into the glowing light, Matt brought the car to a stop at the edge of the water. In a moment Emily and Abby ran up, having been left in the dust as he herded the beasts on. Abby ran straight to the water's edge and, with Becker's help, started to fish Connor out as Emily approached the SUV.

"Matt! How's your head? Are you recovered now?"

Matt nodded as he jumped out of the car, the combination of which made his head pound. He attempted to steady himself against the open door, but Emily made him sit him back down. "You need to take care of yourself," she insisted, examining the bump on his head by the dome light.

"I'm fine," he said, involuntarily cringing in pain at Emily's gentle touch.

"Sorry," she apologised yet continued to examine him, checking his eyes as well. Eventually she was satisfied that his life wasn't in imminent danger and took a step back, asking, "So what happened?"

Matt shrugged. "I came to when the creatures were charging the car." Luckily he'd had enough presence of mind to flash the highbeams at them a time or two in order to get them to stop. "What spooked them?"

"A predator came through the anomaly," Emily explained, "but we managed to get it back through without incident."

Matt nodded, cringing as his head started to pounded again.

"Floodlights," Becker acknowledged, walking up to the car and giving Matt a nod of approval. Considering the mood Becker had been in all evening, Matt realised that this was the most he could expect from the soldier in the way of thanks.

But the floodlight solution had actually been a no-brainer, once Matt's brain had finally started functioning enough to think clearly. After stopping the charging _Placerias_ with the headlights, Matt realised that he could probably encourage the herd to go the other way by simply mounting the floodlights that were stored in the boot and slowly driving towards the beasts. Luckily the scheme had worked, even though Connor had almost become a casualty.

Watching Abby usher a wet, shivering Connor away from the marsh, Matt realised that something was wrong, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Finally it occurred to him: "Why haven't you locked the anomaly?" Usually this was the first thing they did after getting the creatures back through.

Connor shook his head as Abby wrapped him in a blanket. "The anomaly's mostly underwater, so the locking device won't work."

"We're going to need to post a permanent team here," Becker said, "to make sure nothing else comes through."

Matt nodded and tapped his earpiece. "We're going to need another team sent-"

"Already done, "Jess's chipper voice confirmed. "They're well on their way and should be there in five minutes or so."

Matt smiled - it was so nice to have a field coordinator who thought ahead and predicted their needs.

Becker, however, wasn't smiling. "Jess? What are you still doing at work? Your shift ended hours ago."

"You guys were out in the field - I didn't want to...you know...abandon you."

Matt rolled his eyes - from Jess's tone and Becker's look, Matt somehow didn't think Jess's dedication had much to do with the team as a whole. Of course, Becker had accused him of the same thing after he'd followed the raptor through to Victorian times, so perhaps he shouldn't be quite so quick to judge others.

A few minutes later, just as Jess had predicted, another SUV turned onto the dirt road and approached the marsh. Matt and Becker filled the new team in on the situation and then prepared to go.

Becker was heading for the driver's door when Abby stopped him. "I'M driving us back," she announced, "because I'd actually like to arrive at the ARC in one piece. And Emily will ride shotgun - no arguments!"

"Shotgun?" Emily asked, unfamiliar with the slang term.

Matt, however, understood the reason for Abby's demands. "You won't get as sick sitting in the front," he explained.

As Emily flashed him a grateful smile, he suddenly noticed, "Hey, are you chewing gum?"

She nodded. "Abby gave it to me. But something must be wrong with it because it doesn't have any flavour anymore," she complained, causing Matt to smile.

Unfortunately, that was the last time he smiled for some time. Although the ride back to the ARC was much quicker and less eventful than the ride out had been, the atmosphere in the car remained nearly as tense. Connor couldn't seem to stop shivering, despite the fact that Abby had the heat cranked up way past comfortable levels for the rest of them. Emily wasn't turning nearly as green, but she still seemed a bit out-of-sorts. And Becker's constant back-seat driving was not helping Matt, whose head continued to pound. The team leader hoped that the ARC would be quiet when they arrived, as they'd all had quite enough excitement over the last two days and were going to need their strength to go after Philip.

But as Abby finally pulled the SUV down the ramp into the car park, Matt noticed that the ARC was not only silent...it was completely dark!

...

"Jess!"

The field coordinator heard the worry in Becker's voice as he slammed open the stairwell door, so she quickly called out through the darkness, "I'm fine! Everything's fine!"

Thanks to the trail of candles she'd set up, anticipating their return, he was at her side in an instant, obviously not willing to take her own word for it, and his concern over her well-being made her feel all warn and fuzzy inside.

"Really, I'm fine," she insisted as he gave her a once-over by the dim lights of the candles. "Everything's under control."

"Jess, what happened here?" Matt asked as he and Emily hurried over.

"The electricians decided it'd be easier to get the wiring fixed if they turned off everything, including the emergency power. So I switched over all the major functions of the ADD to my laptop, and they shut everything else down. But don't worry - they should have all the rewiring completed in a few more hours, and then everything will be back to normal."

"But where's the rest of the staff?" Matt asked, looking around Ops for the night shift as Abby and Connor joined them.

"Oh, they're all together in the canteen," Jess explained. "But I volunteered to stay here and...uh...cover the ADD," she said, gesturing to her laptop. She didn't bother to mention that she'd volunteered simply so she could be here in Ops when the team - or, more specifically, Becker - got back.

"So what's with the pizza?' Abby asked, gesturing to the food Jess had set out next to her modified workstation.

"Oh...uh... the electricians ordered in pizza for dinner, and I saved out a few pieces." She suddenly worried that the rest of the team might want to stay as well, so she quickly added, "It's a bit cold by now, I'm afraid, but you're all welcome to it."

"Thanks, but I need to get Connor home and into a warm shower," Abby said, nodding towards the still-shivering Connor. "We'll see you at the flat later, yeah?"

"Okay, g'night. And feel better, Connor," Jess called after her retreating roommates.

"And speaking of feeling better," Emily began, "I should be getting Matt home as well, since his head received a nasty bump this evening."

Becker looked concerned. "Then should he really be driving?"

After blurting it out, Jess thought she saw a look of apprehension cross the soldier's face, as if he were dreading Emily's reply.

But luckily Emily insisted, "I can drive him home."

"You?" Becker barked, though Jess thought she could sense relief in his tone. "Can you even drive?"

Emily shrugged. "I haven't yet tried. But I've watched the rest of you do it, and I don't imagine I'd be worse than you."

Jess stifled a laugh as Emily started to lead Matt away.

The team leader turned back to ask, "Jess, you'll promise to ring me if there are any problems?"

"Yes, Matt, I promise. Take care of yourself," she called after him before turning back to Becker.

"So...," he said.

"So," she replied with a shy smile, hoping that he wasn't planning to rush off like the others.

Instead he surveyed the picnic she'd laid out on the table. "Leftovers by candlelight, huh?" he teased. "How...elegant."

"I...uh...even managed to rescue two cans of Coke from the machine before they shut the power off, but I'm afraid they're a bit warm by now. Sorry," she added, suddenly feeling stupid about the whole thing.

"Are you kidding? Cold pizza and warm Coke is my favourite meal," he joked, sitting down across from her. "But what, no napkins?"

Jess laughed. "I might be able to round up some rags from the caretaker's closet if you really want."

She stood as if to go, but Becker placed his hand on hers to stop her, insisting, "Kitchen roll is fine, Jess, Really."

She sat back down, noticing that Becker's hand remained on hers. She smiled at him, and by the soft glow of the flickering candles she saw him smile back.

She'd spent over a year wishing for a romantic candlelit dinner with Becker. And while the circumstances weren't quite as she'd imagined, she couldn't have been more thrilled to finally get her wish.

...

THE END


End file.
